Update on Harlie - 14/12/11

Salam semua.

Maaf saya dah lama tak mengupdate blog ni, kira-kira dah nak hampir seminggu tak update. Reason being macam biasa la, terlalu sibuk dengan urusan & hal lain, i.e my research fieldwork. Hujung minggu ni will be the last day of my fieldwork, jadi insyaAllah lepas ni akan ada lebih skit masa yang terluang untuk bercerita tentang Harlie kesayangan kita :)

Update yang pendek je untuk malam ni. 3 hari lepas, saya ada melawat Harlie lagi di HVC. Setiap 2-3 hari kalau ada masa terluang saya akan pergi menjenguk Harlie di sana, dah jadi rutin pulak. Tak ada apa-apa sangat yang nak diceritakan...cuma syukur alhamdulillah Harlie nampak makin bertenaga, kuat & nakal masa tu. Haha, dia dah suka berlari sana sini & menyorok bawah kerusi & dalam kotak :)

Eczema kat perut dia pun dah hampir 100% hilang. Jahitan kat kawasan tangan dia yang dipotong tu pun getting better, tapi ada sedikit lagi bahagian yang masih kelihatan belum bercantum betul-betul lagi, iaitu macam dulu jugak di kawasan tengah-tengah luka tersebut. Pastu, bila tengok betol-betol balik kat sutures dia tu, kami nampak yang ada beberapa jahitan yang dah macam kene tarik. Rupa-rupanya Harlie masih lagi cuba nak gigit/cabut lagi sutures dia tu. Jadi hukumannya: Harlie dah start kene pakai E-collar! Warna pink lagi tu, heheh :p Sesuai la dengan dia, dia kan girl...

Eczema kat stomach Harlie almost gone

Harlie & her pink E-collar!

Tu saja untuk malam ni ya, stay tuned esok malam insyaAllah saya update lagi. Terima kasih semua!


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Hi all,

Sorry but it's been awhile since I last updated this blog. I've been swamped with work, particularly my research fieldwork. Luckily, this weekend will be the last day of my fieldwork so I'll have a bit more time to update this blog after that, God-willing :)

Nothing much to say tonight, plus I'm running out of time. About 3 days ago, I went to visit Harlie again at HVC...it's becoming a bit of a routine already, every 2-3 days if I have the time I'll drop by HVC to peek in on Harlie. It's getting so that Dr Joe & Dr Nurul can almost pinpoint the exact day & time I'll show up at their door, haha. Not much to say about Harlie, except that she's doing great..and thank God, she seems to be getting stronger, more energetic & even naughtier than before. She likes to run now, and also like to hide under sofas & in various boxes, lol.

The eczema on her tummy is almost completely gone, I'm happy about that. The sutures at her amputation site is also getting better, but as was the case previously, some parts of it (the middle part) still seem to be not 100% healed. The tissue & skin is somehow not stitching together well like the rest are. Plus, when we took a closer look at her sutures, we can see a few that are starting to come loose & unravel. We can only guess that our li'l girl has been going at them, chewing & licking the sutures. So we had to take a desperate course of action: put an E-collar on Harlie! And it's a pink one at that! :)

I think that's about it for tonight. Have to turn in. God-willing, I'll be writing more tomorrow night. Thanks all!

Harlie running! - 10/12/11

Salam semua.

Pada malam 9/12/11, saya telah berjumpa dengan seorang hamba Allah yang baik hati bernama En. Husni. En Husni & keluarganya merupakan rescuer kucing stray yang amat berdedikasi, di rumah beliau terdapat lebih daripada 100 ekor kucing yang telah diselamatkan dari jalanan. Subhanallah. Saya berjumpa dengan beliau kerana beliau ingin bersedekah makanan kibbles untuk Harlie. Secara totalnya, saya telah menerima beberapa beg besar & beg kecil makanan kucing berjenama Artemis Super Premium daripada beliau, jumlah berat makanan tersebut mungkin mencecah 25-35 kg jugaklah. Terima kasih banyak-banyak En Husni diatas jasa baik & sumbangan anda. 

Oleh kerana Harlie masih belum boleh/gemar makan kibbles, maka saya telah mengambil keputusan untuk menyedekahkan makanan tersebut kepada Honey Pet Shop & juga rescuers/feeders daripada KTAJ (Kucing Terbiar & Anjing Jalanan). Moga-moga makanan tersebut dimanfaatkan sepenuhnya oleh mereka, insyaAllah.

Siang tadi (10/12/11) saya telah pergi melawat Harlie lagi. Keadaan dia semakin baik & jahitan baru tu pun nampak semakin pulih. Alhamdulillah. Beberapa gambar yang diambil hari ni menyusul di bawah:

Siapa yang tak jatuh cinta tengok muka ni? :) 

 Jahitan baru semakin pulih. Tengok tangan Harlie tu, ada banyak spots..macam Dalmatian kan? Unik btol.

Eczema kat perut Harlie pun dah kering & hampir hilang.

Lepas tu, Dr Nurul memberitahu saya yang Harlie hari ni tadi tiba-tiba pulak dah mula bermanja dengan dia! Heheh. Sebelum ni, dia langsung taknak manja-manja dengan sesiapa pun, sebab dia takut agaknya. Tapi pagi tadi masa Dr Nurul check dia, Harlie start gesel-gesel kepala dia kat tangan Dr Nurul! Heheh. Petanda baik ni..syukur. Maknanye dia boleh bermanja dengan orang, sama juga macam kucing-kucing lain..cuma memerlukan masa je.

Satu lagi...Harlie tadi berlari lagi, bukan main laju lagi! Kat bawah link kepada video Harlie berlari yg saya dah upload kat Youtube. Masa ni dia dah tak berlari laju sangat, heheh. Sebelum tu laju. Alhamdulillah, Harlie dah boleh adapt dengan keadaannya.

Ok, tu saje..good night semua. Terima kasih! Please pray for Harlie supaya dia cepat sembuh :)

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Hey all.

On the night of 9/12/11, I met a good samaritan by the name of En. Husni. Him & his family are really dedicated cat rescuers. They have more than 100 cats at home, rescued from the streets! That really is something that most of us will not be able to do. God truly is great. The reason I went to meet him was because he wanted to donate some cat food for Harlie. In total, he donated several large bags of Artemis Super Premium kibbles plus several other smaller bags of the same. Total weight of kibbles donated is about 25-35 kilos. Thanks so very much to En. Husni for his dedication & kindness.

Since Harlie still does not take to eating kibbles well, I've decided to in turn donate the food to Honey Pet Shop (HVC) and also to the rescuers/feeders at KTAJ (Kucing Terbiar & Anjing Jalanan), a very proactive cat & canine rescue group. I hope the food will be put to good use & will be used to benefit all the needy strays & rescues out there, God-willing.

Earlier today, 10/12/11, I went to visit Harlie again. She's in good overall health and is getting better by the day. The new sutures also seem to be healing just fine & as expected. Thank God. A few photos from today:

Really, who can't fall in love with this face?

New sutures are healing well. Note the spots on Harlie's left hand. Like a Dalmatian!

The eczema on her tummy is also getting drier & better. Most of them are completely gone or are on the way.

Dr Nurul also told me that Harlie has started to show some affection for her! Previously, she wouldn't come close to or be affectionate to anyone at all, but this morning while Dr Nurul was checking on Harlie in her cage, Harlie quickly gave her some head & cheek rubs. Good news, eh? Thank God. This shows that just like any other cat, Harlie is perfectly capable of trusting & loving people. She just needs time.

Oh, and Harlie is also quite a 'runner' now! She runs quite fast, although her loping gait while she does breaks my heart a little bit. Alhamdulillah, this means Harlie can fully adapt to her condition & that she's getting stronger by the day. Here's a video of her running that I've uploaded to Youtube:

Ok, that's all for now. Good night, everyone. Keep praying for Harlie so that she'll completely recover soon enough! Thank you!

Penjahitan semula luka Harlie - resuturing Harlie's amputation wound

Salam semua.

Short update je malam ni, macam biasa saya kekurangan masa. Rasanya saya tak sempat nak translate post saya semalam dari English kepada B. Malaysia, jadi saya akan cerita secara pendek je kat sini ok.

Kelmarin (6/12/11) adalah hari yang sepatutnya Harlie kena discharge dari ward vet di HVC. Tapi, malangnya vet mendapati luka & jahitan di kawasan amputasi tangan Harlie tu masih belum sembuh dengan sepenuhnya. Bagaimanapun, luka & jahitan kat tempat Harlie kene bedah C-section aritu pula dah sembuh, alhamdulillah. Kenapa luka & jahitan Harlie kat area amputasi tangan dia tu lambat sembuh? Haaa, Dr Joe & Dr Nurul bgtau saya ia mungkin disebabkan:

a) Harlie dah jilat & gigit jahitan kat situ, jadi ada yang dah tercabut. Mungkin sebab dia terasa bahangian tu gatal-gatal & sakit. Ada lubang kecik yang berair-air kat kawasan jahitan dah tercabut ni.

b) Kulit & tisu kat sekitar kawasan jahitan tu dah mati selepas Harlie operate emergency aritu. Jadi bila dah dijahit, tisu & kulit yg dah mati takkan bersambung semula.

Tu yang terjadi sekarang ni. Ada beberapa kawasan kat luka amputasi Harlie tu yang dah hampir pulih sepenuhnya, tapi di bahagian tengah-tengahnya memang belum lagi & masih tak bercantum pun kulit & tisu kat situ. Jadi, apa yang vet decide nak buat sekarang ni ialah untuk membuka semula jahitan amputasi tu (Harlie akan dibius & pengsan masa buat ni), buang tisu & kulit yang mati & kemudian menjahitnya semula. Proses ini akan memanjangkan lagi masa utk Harlie full recovery. Kalau sepatutnya sekarang dia dah more or less pulih, tp sekarang ni jahitan baru ni hanya akan dapat dicabut selepas seminggu camtu.

Sepatutnya penjahitan semula luka Harlie tu dah dibuat pada waktu malam 6/12/11, tp kerana Dr Joe & Dr Nurul terlalu sibuk dengan bermacam-macam kes sehingga lewat malam, maka ianya terpaksa ditangguhkan & hanya telah dibuat pada hari ni tadi (7/12/11).  Tambahan pula Harlie ada sedikit eczema pada bahagian perutnya. Tapi eczema tu dah hampir hilang selepas dah diberi ubat steroid.

Di bawah ni screenshot dari Facebook yg menunjukkan vet HVC memberitahu saya yang luka Harlie telah pun dijahit semula dgn jayanya.

Esok insyAllah saya akan pergi melawat Harlie utk melihat keadaan jahitannya tu. Harap-harap ianya akan baik dengan cepat supaya kami boleh membawa Harlie pulang.


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Greeting to all,

For our English readers, please refer to my post yesterday to see why Harlie still isn't home with us yet.  The procedure I mentioned in that post (removing the existing sutures at Harlie's amputation wound, removing dead tissue & skin & then resuturing it again) was supposed to be done on the night of 6/12/11, but since the vets at HVC were overloaded with other cases & because the sutures were getting a bit better after an application of steroids, they decided to postpone it. It only was done succesfully today (7/12/11).  Harlie's eczema also seem to be receding, mainly due to the steroid shot.

I'll be visiting Harlie tomorrow to take a peek at her condition, God-willing. I pray & hope that the new sutures will be healing well & fast so that we can bring Harlie home with us soon. Pray for her everyone :)

Harlie can't go home yet :(

6/12/11

Salam & greetings to all.

I'm running out of time, have to go to bed soon and tomorrow's yet another early day. So sorry, but tonight's post will be in English only.

My wife & I were looking forward to fetch Harlie from HVC vet clinic today. Yesterday we went out & bought Harlie's litter box, her bedding, food containers, wet food & kibbles and that plastic basket that she likes to sit in so much. Late last night, I washed & disinfected the cage that she'll be sleeping in and also all the things she'll be using (litter box, food containers, bedding, etc). Don't want to take any chances with her getting germs from our home or other cats.

So earlier today, around 2PM, at my wife's behest I called HVC before we went there to fetch Harlie. Bad news. The vets told me that Harlie's stitches at the amputation site isn't healing as expected. Apparently, it's because the tissue & skin around the sutures have become dead tissue, due to the loss of blood & oxygen it experience during Harlie's emergency 6 hour procedure. So, the tissues & skin there are not 'stitching' together as they're supposed to. 

Over the phone, Dr Joe & Dr Nurul (Harlie's vets) recommended to me that the sutures at both the amputation & C-section site be taken out today, after which they'll evaluate the condition of the amputation site sutures. They're not worried about the C-section's sutures as the tissue there is healing well as they should. It's the amputation site's sutures that are problematic. Feeling worried & concerned about Harlie, I told them that I'll go to see them & Harlie at the clinic immediately. It's just a 10 minute drive from my place.

A little while after that, I got to see Harlie. Dr. Nurul told me that she's now more active & wouldn't stay long in her little plastic basket for long anymore. In fact, when Dr Nurul fetched Harlie from her cage in the ward, Harlie immediately jumped out of the plastic basket Dr Nurul put her in. This is a good sign, as it shows that she's getting healthier & is regaining her strength. In the consultation room, they showed me what's wrong with Harlie sutures at the amputation site. Apparently, the tissue at the 'extremities' of the Y-shaped incision that they made are healing well. It's just the tissue in the middle part of the incision that isn't. This is made even worse by Harlie licking & managing to dislodge one of the sutures there a few days ago. So, there's a tiny hole in the middle part of the Y-incision that has liquid seeping out of it (fearing an E-collar would make Harlie stressed more, the vets decided to apply some medicated cream to this tiny hole a few days ago). The tissue around this area is also reddish & seems to be somehow 'raw'. In short, not good.

Dr Joe & Dr Nurul then proceeded to take out the sutures at the C-section incision on Harlie's tummy. That was the 1st time I've seen anyone take out stitches before, it was a bit gruesome! Nevertheless, this went smoothly, as the tissue there has healed really well. Sorry, no photos today, as my usual photographer (dear wifey) didn't tag along as she isn't feeling well. 

After that, they slowly took out the stitches at the amputation site, starting with the ones at the edges or extremities. It can be seen that tissue at the edges are healing as they should, so Dr Joe were able to take out the stitches there with no problem. But then he decided to stop when he came to the middle part, as he's sure they will start to bleed again if the stitches were taken out. 

So in short, in the end Dr Joe & Dr Nurul decided that tonight they will put Harlie under general anesthesia & then take out the middle stitches. After that, they will reevaluate the tissue around the area. If needed, they will then have to remove any dead tissue & skin & then restitch. This is more likely to happen. Thus, Harlie will need to stay at HVC for another week while the new stitches are healing. The soonest she can come back with us will be this Friday, if the wound seems to be healing well that is. 

Although I'm disappointed that Harlie couldn't come back home with us today, I think this is best for her. I'm also reluctant to bring her home in the current state of the amputation site stitches, as I'm afraid I won't be able to monitor & check the sutures properly. I am not a vet, so I won't know what's normal and what's not. 

As for Harlie's eczema, it seems to be getting better but it's still there on her tummy. Dr Joe have tried to apply some topical medicated cream to the area but it seems to be having little effect. So they have injected Harlie with a strong kind of steroid just now to make the eczema go away. Hopefully it will work.

Below is a screenshot of the vets at HVC reaffirming that they need to restitch Harlie's amputation site. 

Please pray for Harlie to have a speedy recovery everyone! Keep her in your thoughts! InsyaAllah she can come back home with us this Friday (9/12/11)